Social Justice
Q&A
I’m interested in writing a female character who is “vain” (i.e. she knows she’s attractive and she spends a lot of effort and money maintaining that), but I want to portray it as a neutral trait or as only a mild flaw (e.g. maybe she’s … read more »
Q&A
Your site and podcast have made me a more considerate person, so I thank you! I’m writing a story in third-person limited and my protagonist has been completely deaf since the age of nine. The setting is Renaissance England, so technological help isn’t an option … read more »
Podcast
Long-running story tropes become long-running for a reason, but what if more was possible? What if we could reach outside the familiar and tell different kinds of stories? Not only would we get to experience something cool and different, but we might even make stories … read more »
Analysis
It’s been over six years since I first wrote about sexism in Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time. At the time, I didn’t expect to touch on the subject again, but that post’s comment section remains active to this day, so I … read more »
Q&A
I am developing a character for a Curse of Strahd campaign that is a wheelchair user (for context, I’m an able-bodied person), and I’m worried about accidentally falling into ableist tropes. My character is a lawful evil necromancer working on kind of a Victor Frankenstein … read more »
Worldbuilding
In this series on worldbuilding, I’ve looked at both science fiction and high fantasy worlds. Today, we’re combining the two with a look at Frank Herbert’s Dune, a book that sits firmly in the space fantasy subgenre. Dune is a classic, a book that has … read more »
Storytelling
Many storytellers want their stories to say something meaningful, but fail to communicate that message successfully. This usually happens because the storyteller is futzing over the gift wrap while neglecting what’s in the box. Like anything else important, messaging has to be built right into … read more »
Commentary
As we’ve learned from numerous popular works, showing a basic romance is impossible. Kissing is too gauche for a general audience. The word “love,” especially preceded by “in,” doesn’t sound natural in dialogue. And if you look away for one second, a character dies senselessly. … read more »
Q&A
Dear Mythcreants, After getting frustrated by media stereotyping and belittling of female anger, I’m currently creating a female protagonist with anger as a deep motivating factor. Her arc centers on learning to harness her anger positively. The emphasis is very much on the management part … read more »
